Saint-14’s shotgun, Perfect Paradox, was a serious powerhouse in Destiny 2 when it was released way back in the Curse of Osiris expansion, and then again during the Season of Dawn. It’s been a while, but Echoes Act 2 has brought the weapon back in a big way with a new perk pool. It’s still a powerhouse with the right roll and is great for melee-centric builds, particularly in PvE. Here’s how you can get Perfect Paradox and the god rolls you should be chasing.
How To Get Perfect Paradox
Like the other reprised Season of Dawn weapons in this episode, Perfect Paradox is now part of the overall loot pool, so you can get it from Episode activities. That means you might get Perfect Paradox as a reward from Breach Executable, Enigma Protocol, or the newly released Nessus Battlegrounds missions.
Perfect Paradox is a guaranteed reward for completing the story of Echoes Act 2, so no matter what, completing the episode’s story quests will get you one. Once it’s in your loot pool, you can visit Failsafe in the HELM to focus Echoes engrams into new Perfect Paradox rolls.
Perfect Paradox God Rolls
Perfect Paradox PvE God Roll
- Barrel: Barrel Shroud
- +10 Handling, +10 Stability
- Magazine: Tactical Mag
- +10 Reload Speed, +5 Stability, +1 Magazine
- First Perk: Dual Loader / Pugilist
- Dual Loader: Reloads an additional shot at a time
- Pugilist: Final blows with this weapon grant melee energy
- Second Perk: One-Two Punch / Trench Barrel / Swashbuckler
- One-Two Punch: Hitting a target with every shotgun pellet in a shot increases melee damage for a short duration.
- Trench Barrel: After a successful melee hit, this weapon gains increased damage, range, and handling for a short duration, or until three shots are fired.
- Swashbuckler: This weapon gains increased damage from melee kills and kills with this weapon.
- Masterwork: Handling / Reload Speed
Perfect Paradox is a gun you combine with melee strikes, and it is great in that role. It has a bunch of perks that play into the punch/shoot rotation, such that you kind of can’t go wrong with whatever you pick–it really comes down to your specific build and how you want the gun to function.
In the first perk column, Dual Loader is a good all-around pick that helps you reload the gun faster, which works well paired with a Reload Speed Masterwork. Pugilist, however, might find better synergy, depending on how you use the gun, as it charges your melee when you get kills with Perfect Paradox.
In the second column, you’ll be making use of that melee. One-Two Punch powers up your melee by a pretty huge margin if you hit the enemy with every pellet in the shotgun blast, making it great to use against bosses and major enemies in a melee-focused damage build. Trench Barrel, on the other hand, increases Perfect Paradox’s damage when you punch an enemy, so go for this perk if you want the bulk of the damage to come from the shotgun rather than your punch. Finally, Swashbuckler enhances the shotgun’s damage when you get melee kills or kills with Perfect Paradox; you might want this option if you’re running a melee build that’s better for clearing minor enemies.
Perfect Paradox PvP God Roll
- Barrel: Smallbore / Corkscrew Rifling
- Smallbore: +7 Range, +7 Stability
- Corkscrew Rifling: +5 Range, +5 Stability, +5 Handling
- Magazine: Accurized Rounds
- First Perk: Slideshot
- Sliding partially reloads this weapon’s magazine and temporarily boosts range and stability.
- Second Perk: Opening Shot
- Improved accuracy and range on the opening shot of an attack.
- Masterwork: Range
Perfect Paradox isn’t nearly as great in PvP as it is as a PvE weapon, but it’s still a strong shotgun that can be very useful. It carries a classic shotgun perk combo in Slideshot and Opening Shot, which can allow you to boost its range and accuracy pretty significantly. As a gun you use for close-range encounters as you’re rounding a corner, Perfect Paradox is a strong contender, allowing for those one-shot kills on unsuspecting enemies or for you to follow up with a quick punch to finish someone off.
There are better PvP shotguns out there, but Perfect Paradox isn’t necessarily a bad option. Just make sure to prioritize its Range stat if you want to take it into the Crucible, as that’ll help you land more kills in tight situations.
